Cardinal

Chapter 33

I woke up with a groan. My right thigh was on fire and I felt like I was just hit by a freight train. It was hard to peel the eyelids off of my eyeballs and I couldn't move my limbs even if I wanted to. 

I really needed to stop waking up in these conditions. 

"Holy shit..." I whisper as I take in my surroundings. Everything was all too bright and all too noisy. I squinted at my surroundings and groan again. I just wanted to take a freaking nap for several hours. Actually, cross that out, for several days. Was it possible to stay sleeping until my body actually recovered? 

The first thing I gather was that we were in that large room we were in after the last simulation and there were a lot of people. A cacophony of groans, quiet chatter, and panting was in the background. My body was contorted in a weird way like I'd been laying on a stiff-ass couch for hours.

"You okay? You gave us a scare there." Brynn announces but she gulps at someone behind me. Brynn? Scared?

I tried to get up from the sitting position that I was in but a heavy forearm held me down on my waist. 

My vest was gone but I was still in my cut-up shirt from simulations. The rest of my right pant leg was gone but the skin there looked slightly red but no evidence of the dagger or the gaping wound that was there from before. 

"Don't fucking move. Rest, goddamnit." I hear Will's voice close to my ear as I shiver in response, relaxing in his arms, my head immediately relaxing back into the crook of his neck where it was previously. He sighs and I feel the weight of his head on mine. It was a comforting kind of weight and I loved the affection after the day I had. I sighed into his comfort. 

Damian was also there with his hand across my legs. His hand was on my leg which was stabbed, gripping my calf with an imperceptible grip like it was his lifeline at the moment. His eyes were bright and biting, glaring at me. I squirm under his intense stare. I gave him a quizzical look, like what the fuck was he mad about now? I was just stabbed-an event that was completely out of my choice. 

I scoff and groan out a "I think I'm okay," I try to get up but Damian has a tight hold on my calf and Will held onto my waist with a tight grip. 

"Stop being so fucking stubborn for one second." Damian's tone left no room to argue. 

"I..." I start to argue but Derek interrupts me with a clearing of his throat and a look that screamed "what the fuck are you doing?" 

"You were just stabbed, I'd listen to your links if I were you." Derek's clinical voice interrupts the start of my argument with Damian, with the signature upward movement of his glasses on his face from where he was on the floor. 

I finally look around and observe my surroundings. Derek was on the floor of the stadium we were in, lying down and looking above the ceiling. Brynn was in a sitting position, running a small flame around her hands, partly practiced and partly out of habit. She gives my links a curious look. Carina and Zach were nowhere to be found as was the null. Everyone else was either being tended to or still passed out on the ground, being dragged into more comfortable positions by their other teammates. I wince inwardly as I notice Mahana's limp form on the ground with Rissa trying to position her against the wall. Rissa catches my concerned gaze and gives me a thumbs up in return as she winces and limps and finally sits down, her eyes closing with an expression like she'd rather be anywhere else than here. With a wave of her hand, she catches the attention of a healer and points the healer in Mahana's direction. I don't see Gomez or White in this sea of people but I made a note to check in on them later. 

I almost forget that I got stabbed as I people-watched in the stadium and tried to look for Alaina so when Will rubs his thumb comfortingly on the now-gone stab wound on my thigh, the feeling of his gift makes my insides warm up. I absentmindedly ask, "Did anyone find that guy who stabbed me, by the way?" Damian grips my calf like he was grappling with himself with either getting up or ripping my thigh off. Either way, frustration was bleeding through his normally very carefully placed emotionless mask on his face.